arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J. P. Roberts.
The PAMELA satellite has observed an excess in the positron to electron ratio above theoretical predictions in the range 10 - 100 GeV that increases with energy. We propose that the excess is not due to a change in the local interstellar spectrum, but is due to heliospheric modulation. We motivate this from the known form of the heliospheric magnetic field and predict that the excess will disappear when we enter a period of solar maximum activity.
We present a numerical simulation of cosmic ray transport in the heliosphere and show that AMS-02 should observe a decrease in the positron fraction above 40GeV compared to the fraction observed by PAMELA.
We provide realistic mock-catalogs of cosmic rays above 40 EeV, for a pure proton composition, assuming their sources are a random subset of ordinary galaxies in a simulated, volume-limited survey, for various choices of source density: 10^-3.5 Mpc^-3, 10^-4.0 Mpc^-3 and 10^-4.5 Mpc^-3. The spectrum at the source is taken to be E^-2.3 and the effects of cosmological redshifting as well as photo-pion and e^+ e^- energy losses are included.
We reinterpret the generic CDF charged massive particle limit to obtain a limit on the mass of a stable or long-lived gluino. Various sources of uncertainty are examined. The $R$-hadron spectrum and scattering cross sections are modeled based on known low-energy hadron physics and the resultant uncertainties are quantified and found to be small compared to uncertainties from the scale dependence of the NLO pQCD production cross sections. The largest uncertainty in the limit comes from the unknown squark mass: when the squark -- gluino mass splitting is small, we obtain a gluino mass limit of 407 GeV, while in the limit of heavy squarks the gluino mass limit is 397 GeV. For arbitrary (degenerate) squark masses, we obtain a lower limit of 322 GeV on the gluino mass. These limits apply for any gluino lifetime longer than $\sim 30$ ns, and are the most stringent limits for such a long-lived or stable gluino.
We discuss the neutralino dark matter within classes of extended supersymmetric models, referred to as the USSM, containing one additional SM singlet Higgs plus an extra Z', together with their superpartners the singlino and bino'.
We study the amounts of fine-tuning of the parameters of the MSSM with non-universal soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs masses (the NUHM) that would be required for the relic neutralino density to lie within the range favoured by WMAP and other astrophysical and cosmological observations. Such dark matter fine-tuning is analogous to the commonly studied electroweak fine-tuning associated with satisfying the electroweak symmetry breaking conditions, which we also study for completeness. We identify several distinct regions of the NUHM parameter space: a bulk region, a $\stau-\neut$ coannihilation region, a pseudoscalar Higgs funnel region, a focus-point bino/higgsino region and a $\sneut-\neut$ coannihilation region. Within each region, we analyse specific representative points for which we provide breakdowns of the contributions to the dark matter fine-tuning associated with the different NUHM parameters. In general, the NUHM offers points with both both smaller and larger amounts of dark matter fine-tuning than points in the corresponding regions of the CMSSM. Lower amounts of dark matter fine-tuning typically arise at points where several different (co)annihilation processes contribute, e.g., at junctions between regions with different dominant processes. We comment on the prospects for using collider measurements to estimate the likely dark matter density within the NUHM framework.
This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of neutralino dark matter within classes of extended supersymmetric models referred to as the USSM containing one additional SM singlet Higgs plus an extra $Z'$, together with their superpartners the singlino and bino'. These extra states of the USSM can significantly modify the nature and properties of neutralino dark matter relative to that of the minimal (or even next-to-minimal) supersymmetric standard models. We derive the Feynman rules for the USSM and calculate the dark matter relic abundance and direct detection rates for elastic scattering in the USSM for interesting regions of parameter space where the largest differences are expected.
The neutralino sector of the U(1) extended SUSY is presented and some collider and cosmology-related phenomenology discussed.
We study scattering of the electroweak gauge bosons in 5D warped models. Within two different models we determine the precise manner in which the Higgs boson and the vector resonances ensure the unitarity of longitudinal vector boson scattering. We identify three separate scales that determine the dynamics of the scattering process in all cases. For a quite general background geometry of 5D, these scales can be linked to a simple functional of the warp factor. The models smoothly interpolate between a `composite' Higgs limit and a Higgsless limit. By holographic arguments, these models provide an effective description of vector boson scattering in 4D models with a strongly coupled electroweak breaking sector.
One of the key motivations for supersymmetry is that it provides a natural candidate for dark matter. For a long time the density of this candidate particle fell within cosmological bounds across much of the SUSY parameter space. However with the precision results of WMAP, it has become apparent that the majority of the SUSY parameter space no longer fits the observed relic density. This has given rise to claims that supersymmetry no longer provides a natural explanation of dark matter. We address this claim by quantifying the degree of fine-tuning required for the different dark matter regions. We find that the dark matter regions vary widely in the degree of tuning required. This degree of tuning can then be used to provide valuable insights into the structure of SUSY breaking at the GUT scale.
We consider neutralino dark matter within the framework of SUSY GUTs with non-universal gaugino masses. In particular we focus on the case of SU(5) with a SUSY breaking F-term in the 1, 24, 75 and 200 dimensional representations. We discuss the 24 case in some detail, and show that the bulk dark matter region cannot be accessed. We then go on to consider the admixture of the singlet SUSY breaking F-term with one of the 24, 75 or 200 dimensional F-terms, and show that in these cases it becomes possible to access the bulk regions corresponding to low fine-tuned dark matter. Our results are presented in the $(M_1,M_2)$ plane for fixed $M_3$ and so are useful for considering general GUT models, as well as more general non-universal gaugino models.
In this talk we analyse the claim that supersymmetry (SUSY) naturally accounts for the observed dark matter density. In many cases, it is necessary to tune the parameters of a SUSY model to fit the WMAP data. We provide a quantitative analysis of the degree of tuning required for different annihilation channels. Some regions are natural, requiring no tuning at all, whereas others require tuning at the 0.1% level.
We study neutralino dark matter within a semi-realistic type I string model, where supersymmetry breaking arises from F-terms of moduli fields parameterised in terms of Goldstino angles, which automatically gives rise to non-universal soft third sfamily and gaugino masses. We study the fine-tuning sensitivities for dark matter and electroweak symmetry breaking across the parameter space of the type I string model, and compare the results to a similar analysis in the non-universal MSSM. Within the type I string model we find that neutralino dark matter can be naturally implemented in the $\stau$ bulk region, the $Z^0$ resonance region and the maximally tempered Bino/Wino/Higgsino region, in agreement with the results of the non-universal MSSM analysis. We also find that in the type I string model the ``well-tempered'' Bino/Wino region is less fine-tuned than in the MSSM, whereas the $\stau$ co-annihilation region exhibits a significantly higher degree of fine-tuning than in the MSSM.
The prediction of neutralino dark matter is generally regarded as one of the successes of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). However the successful regions of parameter space allowed by WMAP and collider constraints are quite restricted. We discuss fine-tuning with respect to both dark matter and Electroweak Symmetry Breaking (EWSB) and explore regions of MSSM parameter space with non-universal gaugino and third family scalar masses in which neutralino dark matter may be implemented naturally. In particular allowing non-universal gauginos opens up the bulk region that allows Bino annihilation via t-channel slepton exchange, leading to ``supernatural dark matter'' corresponding to no fine-tuning at all with respect to dark matter. By contrast we find that the recently proposed ``well tempered neutralino'' regions involve substantial fine-tuning of MSSM parameters in order to satisfy the dark matter constraints, although the fine tuning may be ameliorated if several annihilation channels act simultaneously. Although we have identified regions of ``supernatural dark matter'' in which there is no fine tuning to achieve successful dark matter, the usual MSSM fine tuning to achieve EWSB always remains.